Quick question for the Windows users (since I'm more of a Mac person),In the Color Management Control Panel, there's an advanced tab relating to Windows Color System (WCS) Defaults...

I'm attempting to use a Spyder-3 device with Win-7 to profile a recently purchased Dell Ultrasharp u2410 monitor that has ~98% of Adobe-98-RGB gamut coverage.

I came across a post from Mike Chaney (developer of the Q-Image print utility for Windows) that describes a rather involved series of steps to accomplish prior to using a Spyder-2 (and other hardware monitor profiling device). Is the following more or less correct?

[edit] Feedback from LuLa members indicates the following steps are not recommended. See following posts on this thread. [/edit]

I'm slowly discovering all the dances you have to do in order to get Windows 7 to work properly. Sometimes it's a matter of making just the right face while praying. My latest discovery was how (finally) to get the ColorVision Spyder to work with Windows 7 so you get a working monitor calibration and profile:

(1) Right click on the desktop and select "Personalize".(2) Click "Display".(3) Click "Change Display Settings".(4) Click the tiny "Advanced Settings": link in blue.(5) Click the "Color Management" tab.(6) Click the "Color Management" button: only button on this tab.(7) Click the "Advanced Tab".[8] Click "Change System Defaults".(9) Click the "Advanced Tab".(10) Uncheck "Use Windows Display Calibration".(11) Close out all open dialogs.(12) Right click on your "Spyder2Express" icon on the desktop.(13) Select "Run As Administrator": just opening it WILL NOT WORK.(14) Go through the process of profiling your monitor.(15) Repeat steps (1) through (9) above, then(16) CHECK "Use Windows Display Calibration".(17) Click "Start", "All Programs", and open "Startup".(18) Right click on the Colorvision Startup and delete it.

(Note: my understanding is that the last two steps are related to turning off the task that keeps track of when a re-profile is overdue)

That kicks out the Spyder LUT loader and the profile never loads, so you're back where you started. And twice, no less, since "Use Windows Display Calibration" overrides the Spyder profile. There is a simple calibration tool in Windows, and this is how you enable it, at the expense of any other monitor profile you may have.

In short, that post you linked to is seriously confused. Pay no attention to it.

Again, calibration/profiling in Win 7 requires no user intervention. Launch and let it run through, done. Verify the profile in Color Management > Devices. The profile should be marked (default). And don't kick out the loader from startup! That's all there is to it.

I don't use Spyder hardware, but, X-Rite ColorMunki and I open the app let the device run through it calibration routine and close the application on both Win7 and Win 8.

Also, calibrating my NEC monitor with NEC Spectraview 11 software using my ColorMunki puck is exactly the same - Run software, let the application run it's calibration routine and then automatically update the monitor LUT's, and when it says its finished, close out the application.

Seeing the post I thought I had done it all wrong. It is the antithesis of what I had done. No disrespect but this is how misinformation starts. Happily I now know what I did what was correct and the two monitors despite being different have very similar profiles.

In short, that post you linked to is seriously confused. Pay no attention to it.

I didn't mean to convey ... "this is a preferred method" or "I advocate this method". It seemed convoluted and possibly flawed, so I thought it would be useful to check with more experienced LuLa participants. I'll edit the OP to note that "feedback from LuLa members indicates this isn't recommended".

I don't know why so many people insist on overcomplicating this. It's all straightforward and works out of the box.

I've had three Win7 machines, calibrated with Spyders, Color Eyes Display Pro, and Eizo easypix native hardware calibration. At no time have I ever had to uncheck or check "Use Windows Display Calibration", because it's unchecked by default and that's what it should be. You only check it if you want to use the Windows calibration tool (and why would you?)

And there's no reason to ever touch the loader in startup. It does what it's supposed to do.

True, there was an initial bug in Vista that threw out the profile when the screen went to sleep or the UAC was invoked. But that bug was fixed in service pack 1 and has never been seen again.